Word.ws English Dictionary

keeps it in the family

keeps it in the family is the third-person singular simple present indicative of keep it in the family.

Meaning of keep it in the family

Verb

keep it in the family (third-person singular simple present keeps it in the family, present participle keeping it in the family, simple past and past participle kept it in the family)

  1. (idiomatic) To restrict knowledge or information to only the members of a family or another small, intimate group.
    • Near-synonyms: keep one's own counsel, keep one's mouth shut, STFU; see also Thesaurus:be quiet
  2. (idiomatic) To remain loyal to one's family; to retain family ownership of a business for long period of time.

Questions about keeps it in the family

What is keeps it in the family the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Keeps it in the family is the third-person singular simple present indicative of keep it in the family.

Words near keeps it in the family in the dictionary

  1. keeps it a buck
  2. keeps it a buck fifty
  3. keeps it a stack
  4. keeps it between the ditches
  5. keeps it in one's pants
  6. keeps it in the family
  7. keeps it moving
  8. keeps it one hundred
  9. keeps it together
  10. keeps it up
  11. keeps measures

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: keeps it in the family (page history and authors); keep it in the family (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “keeps it in the family.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/keeps_it_in_the_family. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.